Re-membering

Exodus 32: 11-14

I Corinthians 12:12-20
1 Corinthians 11: 17-19, 28-29

Luke 22:14-20

Re-membering

There was a study recently done by two physiologists on how members of the various sections of 11 major symphony orchestra perceived each other. The percussionists were viewed as insensitive, unintelligent, and hard-of-hearing, yet fun-loving. String players were seen as arrogant, stuffy, and un-athletic. The orchestra members overwhelmingly chose "loud" as the primary adjective to describe the brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in the highest esteem, described as quiet and meticulous, though a bit egotistical. Interesting findings, to say the least. With such widely divergent personalities and perceptions, how could an orchestra ever come together to make such wonderful music? The answer is simple: regardless of how those musicians view each other, they subordinate their feelings and biases to the leadership of the conductor. Under his guidance, they play beautiful music.

Memories. Remembering. Re-membering. What makes a memory? When we remember something or someone, in a way it is like fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together to form a whole picture again. We put together images, and sounds, and even smells, and of course emotions so we can make it all whole again and hold it in our minds for awhile.

All of us have memories, some fond and others far from fond, of persons, places, and events that have been significant in our lives. Memories are so significant that we could actually say that individuals are the sums of their memories. Even when someone ends up dredging up painful memories, the recognition and the sharing can be both therapeutic and community building.

What is true of individuals is certainly true of families. There is a continuing interest in researching genealogy, as evidenced by the various 'how-to' books, classes, and even web-sites on the internet. Part of why we do that is so we feel more connected, more a part of our past, and can pass on those connections to our children and grandchildren. We want to remember who our past relatives were, even if we never knew them. And, we want to be remembered. Sometimes we may think and act in accord with the way we've been formed by our families, and sometimes precisely the opposite. Ever have someone say, “You remind me of your Dad”? Or, “You remind me of your Mother.”? Close your eyes for a moment . . . now recall a family gathering with me. Who is there? How are you involved? If you think hard enough it's almost like we're there again with those people we love, isn't it? Such is the power of memory.

To be fully human is to remember. The Greek word for memory is “anammeis”—the recalling of history. Very close to the word we are familiar with, “amnesia”, which is a loss of memory. Loss of memory is a terrible thing. Losing our memory dis-members us. We remember so we are better equipped to face the future. We remember so we can remain whole. We remember so we can remain connected, to the people we know and the world around us.

Nations and regions and communities have a collective memory as well. The people of the nation called Israel were told by God that they were to be a people of memory. They were to remember where and what they had been and how they had been delivered from them by God's gracious action. This recalling of history is in itself a profession of faith in God. However, it's not just something that's located in the past and not to be forgotten. Rather, this re-membering makes us contemporaries with the events that are recalled; that history is also our history. To remember what God has done for Israel is to be part of the action because it encompasses the past, speaks to our own liberation today, and assumes the future. Why? Because God who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," is the One who acts.

What we heard in I Corinthians 12 is, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though al the parts are many, they form one body….. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Without you the body cannot be whole. Without you, Christ is not complete. Without you, Christ is not fully alive in this world yet. For the body of Christ to be whole each of you has to re-member Jesus. You have to put him back together by becoming one with him.

Jesus did not save us just by shedding his blood and dying as a broken body on the cross. Jesus saved us by being made whole through the resurrection, becoming whole again, and living and being alive today. Through salvation and sanctification, we are made whole by God’s grace.

If we call ourselves Christians we become part of Jesus’ body. The church is to be the body of Christ. As a church we are to become like the orchestra, with Jesus as our conductor. The conductor with his wand is silent. It takes the orchestra to make the music he wants played, and to play it the way he wants to hear it. The notes we are to follow are the commands of Christ.

Each time we celebrate Communion, we are remembering God's gracious action toward us, we are re-membering the Body of Christ. That is, we are being brought more and more into wholeness with the living Lord. That's why I believe that the best definition of Christian worship is, "gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread." In those simple actions we re-member the Body of Christ.

Re-membering the Body of Christ means that we are constantly putting ourselves back into God's active, living memory. When we come to church to worship together we are coming to re-member the Body of Christ. When we go our separate ways, the Body of Christ goes forth into the world through you and through me. God's love, God's care reaches out to the world through you and through me. God's love, God's care reaches out to the world through our words, our actions, and our touch. For Christians, this is how memories are made: gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread.

The Church into which the Christian is called is not a collective but a body. If anyone comes to church with the idea that the Church is simply a gathering together of persons to worship as if they were a crowd at a movie, that person is dis-membered. Christ’s presence, the interaction between him and us, must always be the overwhelmingly dominant factor in the life we are to lead within the body; and any idea of Christian fellowship which does not make fellowship with Jesus the primary reason to gather, so as to do his work in the world, is out of order.

Maybe you remember sometime in the past, when you put your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty? At the Columbus Zoo your face can become the head of an animal. Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body.

If we could picture Christ as the head of this church would the world laugh at the misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head?

Where do you fit as part of the Body of Christ? Come to the table this morning and re-member the Body of Christ for your family, for your friends, for your community.

Amen.